Are you a good manager?

One simple measure of your value as an employee: when you say you're taking a few days off, how concerned is your manager?

Does the opposite also hold true? Yes, it's a crude measure, and it's just one, but I think it goes the other way, too.

If you manage people, do you think they're relieved when you're out of the office, or are they worried? Are they more productive, or less?

My boss has jury duty, so she's out for at least a couple days, and possible more. That worries me. Every day that she's out, I get increasingly bogged down by administrivia, "emergency of the hour" fire drills, unfocused and not well considered requests, and thorny problems that don't seem to have good answers. These issues grow until, after a couple weeks, it takes most of my day.

One of the most important jobs of a manager is clearing and filtering impediments, interruptions, and distractions so that the people that work for you can do their jobs. Clearly, my manager does that.

On the other hand, we've all heard of the opposite type, too -- the kind you wish would just leave you alone. The kind that everyone's glad when he's on vacation. I've been fortunate not to have very many of these in long career.

Do you manage people? Which type are you?